Reflections.....

So this is the week we were in Ethiopia last year. I have been thinking about it all week. Wow, so much has changed since we brought her home. When we picked Marlee up she was so quiet, babbled a lot, but had a quiet personality. I remember her sleeping almost the entire plane ride home and then we put her in her crib the first night and she slept the entire time. The time difference did not make any difference. She was very difficult to make smile at first. I look back and see how scared she was but at the time I thought it was just her personality. Now that I know Marlee, I can tell you that is not the case.

So what am I thinking about? I am really thinking about Marlee's birth father who we got to meet in Ethiopia. I am framing a picture of us with him and putting it in Marlees room. There is so much talk going around, in the adoption forum world, and some on the news about international adoption ethics. There are some heated discussions and some very valid points on both sides. All I can say is after meeting Marlee's Father, I was at peace with his wishes for her. Yes there was an interpreter and yes, they could have not told me everything but when I looked into his eyes and gave him a hug, I knew this was what he wanted. There were others who met birth family that day who did not have the same experience we did, Marlee's father was at peace with his decision, he did not have to say a word. I do frequently look at Marlees sweet face and see him, the resemblence is so great! What a blessing he has given to us, I hope he knows!

So Marlee is growing like a weed, 75th percentile for height and 40th for weight. She now is sweet but boy she will let you know when she is mad. Yes she is a woman:) We went for her late 15 month check up and the Dr. was amazed at her progress. She did her dance for her. It is quite cute, she moves her legs quickly like she is running in place and spins in circles, she likes to do this to Single Ladies by Beyonce. Docter was impressed with her ability to move her legs that quickly.

Noah and Della absolutely adore their little sis. Honestly, I have to watch them so closely because they can't take their hands off of her. Noah is doing AMAZING in school. He is in first grade and taking 2nd grade math plus ahead in reading. Della is headed to Kindergarton next year, I can't believe it. I just signed her up. The school will not know what hit them, I love that kid, her spirit is one of a kind!

On the adoption side, our homestudy has been approved. Now we send it to CIS and wait to get fingerprinted. Pray for a fast process, the website says 3 months but that is really high, I can't imagine it taking that long. We have our dossier done and taking it this week to the Sec. of State to get verified then sending it in. After that, my job is done. We don't get put in the waiting category until our CIS approval comes so it will likely be 2 months or so and then from that time 1-10 months until we find out who our boy is. After that there is about a 3 month wait to travel. Our wait will likely be on the short side but we are prepared for anything.

Well all for now!

Wow, it has been quite the two weeks......

Since I posted last we have been really busy with paperwork, had our home study, it went well and surgeries. Lets start with the paperwork. Turns out I am very quick when it comes to this. We are just waiting on a few background checks to get the home study ready to go to WACAP(the agency we picked) for approval. After approval, our social worker is sending in our I600A and the bummer on that is that it says Indiana is taking 3 months for approval, that this is about a month longer than last time. Once we get cleared from CIS we are on the waiting list. The wait is about 1-10 months, probably on the low side for an older child. After a referral we will have about 1-2 months to court and then about 1-2 months to travel. The courts shut down in Ethiopia during their rainy season, August through early October, so cases will not be heard then. We are hoping to have a holiday homecoming but are OK even if it is next year!

So for the surgeries, Steve go his ability to produce offspring taken away last Friday. I have to say he took it like a trooper, I also don't think I have much sympathy after 2 c-sections:) Now that Steve is done, we take Noah in tomorrow. For what, well it is quite interesting. His circumcision was not done right when he was a day old:( We have been asking the Dr. about it for years but she kept saying he would grow into it, well it turns out they forgot to snip some skin. OK too graphic, but she finally looked at it closer and now we need to take care of it. The cute little guy is not even nervous, he just knows that Daddy had something last week and it is his turn this week. That kid is fearless, love him:) So I will be taking care of my other man this weekend.

We are also coming up on our 1 year famiversary on March 28th. I am not sure what we are going to do but it is a holiday in our home:) Marlee has been such a blessing and I don't know what life would be like if we hadn't followed our hearts to Ethiopia. We fell in love with her and we can't wait to fall in love with our other child, yet to be known, in Ethiopia.

Some exciting news............

Well, I realize that I haven't blogged in about 4 months. The Facebook thing got me and it is quite convenient. I also realize I need to blog to keep track of all the things that happen, that I will someday forget. So I am now going to start blogging again and I am going to make my blog public but not searchable on the Internet. So, the news.............

We are starting the adoption process again for a child from Ethiopia. We have actually been working on paperwork for about 3 weeks but just haven't said anything because we felt we might be crazy. Then we attended church this past weekend and the Pastor was talking about a step of faith and how it is not logical and can be scary but you have to know God will be there to walk with you and be there at the end of the journey. He specifically mentioned adopting a child. Now when we went to church Saturday we had already sent money to the home study agency but had not told many people. I know God was speaking to us through that sermon and God has great timing. We were scared. A fourth child on one income, another adoption which is emotional and financially draining and all in this unsure economic time. So then we questioned our sanity but kept proceeding. Adopting again has been on our hearts for quite sometime and when I brought it up to Steve again, he was on board right away, umm that does not happen often:)

So we are on our way, our home study visit is in 6 days and we are excited. I have been working very hard on paperwork and will have it accomplished by Monday. The social worker can't believe how quickly I have gotten it done, I guess the second time around, you just do it and don't think about it. Here are some answers to questions you might have:

What age and gender child are you adopting?
We are hoping to get approved to adopt a boy age 3-4, right in between M and D. We know this will be a more difficult transition for the child being older but we are reading and learning about "older child" adoption.

When will he be home?
This is very up in the air. We hope to have him home by this time next year but with any adoption there is much uncertainty.

What agency are you going with?
We have not picked a placing agency yet. We loved CHSFS out of MN but they have bigger rules on adoption out of birth order than most agencies and don't have as many older child placements as some other agencies. We are seriously considering going with WACAP out of Washington. Again we have not decided yet.

How do the kids feel?
N and D are so excited. N wants to get a loft so he can share a room with his new brother and now D wants to get one so she can share a room with M. We are blessed with some loving kids who picked adopting a brother over a trip to Disney. Not that it was really a choice but I wanted to see what they would say. M doesn't understand but I am sure she will be happy to have a sibling that is from her same birth culture.

Over the next year we will for sure encounter some bumps, big and small. We may be asking for many prayers and will undoubtedly question our sanity. The one thing we won't question is this journey and why we are doing it. Adoption is an amazing process. We are so blessed with M in our lives and will be blessed with our fourth child as well. Hey to be totally honest, it sure beats a c-section:) Please stay tuned for our journey to our Ethiopian prince! So here we go and we shall remember that just because this journey is not the most logical and simple one, it doesn't mean we should not take it. Till next time(hopefully not too long:)